Improved shield for iron-clad vessels



Witnesses',

, y .QC

Inventor.'

exposed faces of the shield.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

RICHARD MONTGOMERY, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

IMPROVED SHIELD FOR lRON-CLAD VESSELS.

Specification forming part of' Letters Patent No. 35,1195, dated June 3, 1862.

To all whom t may concern,.-

Beit known that I, RICHARD hYIoNTeoMEnY,

of the city and State of New York, have in-` vented a new and useful improvement upon au invention patented to me ou the 18th day ot' March, 1862, entitled Improved Iron-Clad Vessels, and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description of the construction and operation of' the same, reference being had to the annexed drawings, making a part of this specification, in which- Figure 1 represents a front and Fig. 2 a side view thereof.

The object of this invention is to place a shield over the orifices shown in the sides of my improved iron-clad vessels and give additional protection to the flaring surfaces of the said orifices shown in that invention.

In Fig. 1 two ofthese shields are shown; but as one is to be placed over each orifice, the number in a shi ps sides will be determined by the number of these orifices she may have.

a shows this shield in its normal position,and b the shield thrown around upon its axis, exposing a portion of' the orifice of the hollow tube or conductors described in the patent above referred to. This shield is of an irregular form, its two exterior faces consisting each of a truncated triangle,wi th their faces inclined to each other in such a manner that they meet atthe line of the axis of motion. The deflection of these faces from each other is such as to make the edges of the shield, when in its normal position, meet the haring sides, or nearly so, ot the orifices in the sides of the ship, thus closing more or less these orifices and completely covering the openings into the hollow tubes or conductors. The surfaces of the shield may be plain or corrugated, and the material used may bewrought or east iron or steel. I propose, therefore, either to cast the shield entire in a solid mass or to make it of heavy plate iron or steel, in the latter ease filling the cavity, if any, with wood, sand, or water, or leaving it empty.

rThis shield moves on an axis of iron or steel of sufficient strength and size attached or formed at thejunction of the base of the two This axis I pre fer to make vertical, or nearly so, and so arranged in its bearings upon inclined surfaces or otherwise as to cause the shield to return by its own gravity to its normal position after having been displaced by a projectile or other cause; or, by a proper application of some appropriate mechanical device, the axis might be placed horizontally. This axisstands out, as seen in Fig. 2, some distance above or beyond a plane that would be formed by the edges of the flaring orifices of the conductors o, the effect of which arrangement is to protect in a great measure the Haring sides of the conductor from the effect of projectiles when discharged, so that they would otherwise strike these surfaces at or near a right angle. The axis is supported, as shown at c c, by abeam or knee bent at a proper angle and secu red pro perl y to the sides of the vessel. d d show the ends of the axis passing through this knee or beam.

The operation of the shield is very evident from the description of its construction. If a cannon-ball or other projectile were discharged in the direction shown bythe arrow fr, so that its line of flight should be perpendicular, or nearly so, to the plane of the fiaring face y of the orifice 0, it would, if it met with no obstruction, penetrate this face if the cohesion and momentum of the projectile were sufficient to overcome the resistance of the face, inasmuch as,striking the latter with this direction, there would be little or no tendency to glance; but a very slight deliection from this direction would produce this tendency. If, there fore, before reaching this face, the projectile should come in contact with a yielding body of considerable inertia arranged as the face z of the shield, a new direction would be impressed upon it, (the projectile,) and this might Vbe sufficient to make it pass at once into the conductor, whose orifice would be exposed by the rotation of the yielding shield, or at least cause it to strike the surface y at such an angle as to cause it to glance therefrom into the same orifice.

What I claim is-A A shield arranged and operating substantially in the manner set forth.

Vitnesses:

C. T. SMITH, H. KING. 

